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Monday, 16 May 2016

5 things I've learned living away from home

I moved out of my family home when I started university in late 2014. It was a scary prospect at the beginning, but something I knew I'd love once I got used to it.
I did leave university at the start of my second year (read about that experience here), but I didn't move back home, so I've still been living that adult life; I guess even more so since I had to haul my ass into a full time job to pay for everything (bye-bye student loan, sob.)

I won't lie, it's been tough just depending on myself to get by, but for the most part... This living away from home lark has been pretty great! Sorry mum and dad, but I don't think I'm coming home.

Here's a few things I've learned since having to stand on my own two feet...

Laundry piles up!

So you know all those times when your mum shouted up to you on a Friday evening to bring all the dirty clothes from your room, then it took you three trips to bring it all down... Nope? Just me? Well, it sounds obvious but I learned pretty thick and fast that when you live on your own, if you don't wash your clothes... Well, there's no washing fairy, I'll tell you that. I remember in my first few weeks of living away from home I was like, crap, where's all my underwear? Ohhhh yeah... I have to wash it.

Money matters

For the vast majority of people, money is always playing on people's minds, and unfortunately it's the biggest worry of a lot of people I know, including myself. Money really does matter, especially when you don't necessarily have anyone there to back you up. I know a mixed bunch of people - some work, some don't... We all have our own struggles. I work full time and I've really struggled to make ends meet sometimes. Rent, bills, food, transport... All that stuff has to come first, before any kind of treats or social life. It's the sad truth of adulthood.

That doesn't mean that you've got to be depressed looking at your bank account every month, though. Spending is just something that needs to be moderated. (Hey, look, I know - I go wild every couple of paydays too. I didn't say we couldn't have any treats!) Save the extravagant purchases as rewards for yourself. Don't buy those things that you don't really need when you know you should really be saving. And don't, DON'T make the mistake I constantly make of buying things just for the sake of it. Be smart with your money and you won't fall on your arse as much as me!

Food is expensive!

Even when you're Aldi's number one fan like me, food is pretty darn pricy. Paying for my own food shopping has definitely made me want to apologise over and over to my parents for all those times they did the food shop on Saturday, then by Monday all the crisps were gone. It's so frustrating buying food for it to just suddenly not be there two days later. Does that make sense? I think this main life lesson is actually to spread your groceries out across the week rather than eating it all as you're packing it away. I'm still learning. I'm human.

I'm a slob

I grew up having to share a bedroom with my younger sister, which used to drive me absolutely insane. It was always a pig sty, with crap everywhere, but I swore blind it wasn't my mess. For the most part it wasn't (sorry Amber) but now I've come to learn that... Yep, I'm pretty much the biggest slob ever. I make a lot of mess that I'm too lazy to clean up. I'm sorry, I admit it. But the best part is no one can tell me to tidy my room. So at least I'm happy in my life of chaos and clutter.

I've outgrown living at home

The biggest realisation I've had since moving out is definitely that it was my time to go. I don't think I could've stayed home much longer, for a multitude of reasons. I struggle sometimes on my own, it's not always a breeze and being an adult is definitely tiring and boring, but I just could not imagine putting myself back into a position where I relied on other people to do things for me. I love being away from home, I love having flatmates and I love being able to do my own thing. (Also, to put this into perspective - for 19 years I shared a bedroom and slept on bunkbeds. Now I have my own room AND a double bed. It's pretty much a no brainer!)

Great post! I think it can be scary moving out for the first time but it just puts things into perspective, your parents do an awful lot! I remember my first weekly shop with my boyfriend- wow was that a lot of money!